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Topic: Fan belt - I'm cursed  (Read 4716 times)

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Fan belt - I'm cursed

« on: August 08, 2005, 02:38:58 PM »
I'm on my 4th fanbelt in 7 months - what am I doing wrong?!

The first one that came with the car was old so I replaced it with one that I bought from Bugapaluza.  This shredded after several weeks, so I bought two new ones from Mainly Foreign.  The first stayed on for a while and was fine, but then one day I noticed it had stretched quite a bit.  I tightened it up by moving the shims, but it just stretched again.

Assuming it was faulty, I replaced it with an identical belt and yesterday I noticed this has stretched a lot as well!

What am I doing wrong?!

Offline Ret.Bugtech

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2005, 03:46:21 PM »
Matt, Look at the alignment between the gen. pulley and crankpulley. There can not be any offset between the two or they will wear the sides of the belt off causing the belt to loosen up. Check both pulleys to make sure there isn`t any rust, pits or something rough on the area where the belt runs. This will also cause the sides of the belt to wear off.  Let me know.

Guest

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2005, 03:49:54 PM »
I'll have a look tonight.  If the alignment is the problem, how is this adjusted?

Offline Ret.Bugtech

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2005, 03:59:11 PM »
Matt, One more thing. What kind of tension are you putting on the belt ? I would say about 3/4 to 1 inch deflection should work.  Pulleys that are bent and wobble and pinched will also cause this problem.

Offline Ret.Bugtech

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2005, 04:06:55 PM »
Our post passed each other. If it is the alignment, it would depend on how much its out. Do you have a gen or alt, ?

Offline Zen

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Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2005, 01:04:04 AM »
If it's a generator and the alignment is off quite a bit . . . maybe a half inch or a little more . . . you may have one of the later generators from a bay window bus.  The bus generator is a little longer and takes special tin on the fan end.  If you use the bus generator with bug tin, you can not get the pullies to line up and your engine will eat belts like a kid eating candy!  Been there, done that.

If you can see the part number on the generator, the type 1 generator's part number starts with a 1.  The longer bus generator's part number starts with a 2.

Offline Ret.Bugtech

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2005, 08:39:50 AM »
Zen is very correct on the Gen. size.   VW rated their Gen by the the number of Watts they produced and not amps.  The type 2 Gen was a 200 watt verses 180 watts for the bug. If you have one of these type 2 Gen and you have a off-set problem, I think I would look for the correct tin-ware. These 200 Watters are great if you have extra driving lights, high powered radios etc. They are getting kind of rare now.
     Has this problem been around all the while or has it just started ?

Guest

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2005, 05:52:02 PM »
It's difficult to tell visually if they're aligned - if anything I'd say the generator pulley is slightly too far towards the front of the car (see pics below).  I think it's a generator - part no is 113 903 0316, it also says "G-14V30A20" on it (again, see pic).

There's an increasing amount of nasty black dust in the engine bay so I assume the belt is slowly being shredded.

I think the problem has probably always been there.  The original belt was quite thin, and all new ones I've put in have shredded and broken/stretched.

So, any clues as to how to re-align?





Offline Ret.Bugtech

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2005, 07:54:15 PM »
Matt, You can loosen the "tie down" strap on the gen. and pull the Gen back towards the back of the car. Take the belt off to do this. Don`t pull it back   so far that the fan rubs .  Looking at pic #1 , it looks like the Gen. pulley is rough as a corn cob.

Guest

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2005, 11:16:18 AM »
OK, so new pulleys it is then!

Any recommendations for makes/models/sources?  Also is it a tough job to replace the pulleys? I've seen references to another special VW tool to remove the crankshaft pulley - can I do it without this tool?

Matt

Offline Gobusgo

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Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #10 on: August 10, 2005, 12:16:35 PM »
Someone will correct if I'm wrong (I'm not that adept to Beetle, i.e., upright engines) but I think that you put your big flat head screwdriver in that slot on the pulley to hold it while you put the appropriate size socket on the nut (I think its a 19 or 21 mm) and loosen it up, being careful not to lose the shims that are located on the shaft therein.  It should come right apart in two different sections.

Offline Zen

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Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2005, 06:19:11 PM »
I don't remember if the inside pulley half is made onto the center part or if it just slides on to the center . . . I think it's part of the center.  Take it apart like Travis said . . . if the back half of the pulley won't just slide off of the center, you'll need a good three-jaw gear puller.  If you don't have one and don't want to buy one, a lot of autoparts stores will "loan" you one (basically, you buy a used one at the price of a new one and they give you your money back when you return it).

Make sure the key is in it and you have it lined up when you put the new pulley on.  Tap it on as far as you can with a brass, plastic, or rubber hammer.  Once you get it far enough on, you can use the nut to press it the rest of the way on.

Offline Ret.Bugtech

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #12 on: August 11, 2005, 08:39:49 AM »
Matt, There are pulleys and then there are pulleys.  Get a German pulley if possible.  NO CHROME ones. I have had more trouble keeping chrome pulleys together. For the most part, chrome pulleys were cheaply made ones. As far as the crank pulley, there is a puller for it. I don`t have one. I have gotten them off without it. A little tougher to do. The gen. pulley can be wiggled off with a pair of healthy screw drivers most of the time. The gen.pulley is just two halves.Cheap pulleys become three parts after they run for a while( when the weld cracks) Be sure to take a long look at the crank pulley. If in doubt,replace it. It has to be smooth as a babies butt or all is for naught.

Guest

Fan belt - I'm cursed

« Reply #13 on: August 11, 2005, 09:15:28 AM »
I've got non-chrome replacement pulleys.  Gen pulley went on last night very easily, just need to figure out how to get the crankshaft pulley off - big socket, 4th gear and pulling hard seem the best solution!

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